Poll: How powerful is the media?

[Gerazzi]

Something I noticed about the media in America in particular is that it is ridiculously overpowered. If you think about it, it is very true. Look at the left/right wing battle constantly going on between FOX and MSNBC. It's starting to get simply ridiculous, there is little truth left in America and anyone who can decipher what's going on deserves the Nobel Peace Prize because I can't make heads or tails of it.

Comedians in particular are also limited to what's put into the news because they can't have observation humor without the crowd having any relation to the news. This may be a grim take on things but if you start watching other news networks in conjunction to the one you are currently watching, you will notice things are omitted, even sometimes changed.

The same things are going on with the current history books in America, they are so mindlessly patriotic that they cannot possibly be true. Thanksgiving in particular is a celebration where the Pilgrims gave the plague to Native Americans and took all their dwellings and crops for themselves thinking it a gift from god, here citing "Lies my Teacher Told me". Most college history professors would agree with me when I say everything you learned in 9th grade history is quite possibly a farce. Another example is Columbus, he wasn't the first person to set foot in America, and he was originally trying to find a new trade route to India for the slaver business. Yet he is glorified as an American hero.

These are the same people that will be in charge of a huge world power, it is completely disgusting when you think about it. But more often than not it is truly frightening. When facts like these can be skewed to support one ideal more than another we're on the fast track to communist propaganda. I'm not saying it's huge, but it's there, and nothing is being done to stop this kind of thing in grade schools. Colleges teach the correct things, but there is only a fraction of Americans who could afford college, wanted to go to college, and took college history classes. This wouldn't be as bad as I make it out to be unless you remember that a majority of these people are voters, politicians who would say this sort of thing would cause a huge controversy.

What are your thoughts on this matter?

What encapsulates my thought on the subject:

http://sendables.jibjab.com/originals/what_we_call_the_news

 

[Hazy]

I wish the Media would do what they used to do.. THE NEWS!
I hate flipping on my TV to hear "7 Household Items that could kill you, Tonight at 7!"
No thanks Fox, No thanks.

To answer the title though: When the media has the power to throw the entire nation into a wide-spread panic over the Swine Flu, they are far too powerful.

 

[APPCRASH]

We just assume that you are smart enough to hold your own opinions of the matter. Don't think because college is expensive it is "right." You will find just as many biased instructors there. Also, what the fuck is that thing at the end about voters? Kid you need to realize that the world doesn't have as many conspirators as you think and the major corporation and politicians are not a bunch of blood thirsty tyrants.

 

[Gerazzi]

We just assume that you are smart enough to hold your own opinions of the matter. Don't think because college is expensive it is "right." You will find just as many biased instructors there. Also, what the fuck is that thing at the end about voters? Kid you need to realize that the world doesn't have as many conspirators as you think and the major corporation and politicians are not a bunch of blood thirsty tyrants.

I said in my commentary that it's not as bad as you may infer from me, but it is there. The same people who get a high school education get their information from the textbooks, and that would be where the problem lies.
It's not exactly evil or anything, they're just completely patriotic.

 

[furnatic]

Problem I have with the 'news' is it is way too biased. Not to mention I have yet to see a good news story. Everything always seems to focus on the bad stuff. For example, the Iraq war. A soldier can save his unit without a single loss against overwhelming odds, (I know a Marine Sgt this happened too) and never hear about it on the news. Yet as soon as a soldier falls, the news jumps on it like flies to shit.

 

[ZeeClone]

Any comment I make will probably get me put on probation.

So I'm going to stay quiet.

 

[Gerazzi]

Problem I have with the 'news' is it is way too biased. Not to mention I have yet to see a good news story. Everything always seems to focus on the bad stuff. For example, the Iraq war. A soldier can save his unit without a single loss against overwhelming odds, (I know a Marine Sgt this happened too) and never hear about it on the news. Yet as soon as a soldier falls, the news jumps on it like flies to shit.

This is not entirely true, I'm pretty sure that hugely conservative radio shows would say something about it, but they may be lying about other "facts" and we have no way of knowing.

A prime example is the New York Times.
Take the stuff on the news with mountainous piles of salt.

 

[APPCRASH]

We just assume that you are smart enough to hold your own opinions of the matter. Don't think because college is expensive it is "right." You will find just as many biased instructors there. Also, what the fuck is that thing at the end about voters? Kid you need to realize that the world doesn't have as many conspirators as you think and the major corporation and politicians are not a bunch of blood thirsty tyrants.

I said in my commentary that it's not as bad as you may infer from me, but it is there. The same people who get a high school education get their information from the textbooks, and that would be where the problem lies.
It's not exactly evil or anything, they're just completely patriotic.

What's the name of your text book? I actually kept most of my books through high school by using the "I already turned mine in" line. Also there is nothing wrong with being patriotic. Well, I guess it's the new "cool" for you kids to hate your country. Finally, if you learn anything at all through high school English, it's to ALWAYS use multiple sources and never to draw from just one.

 

[Merteg]

I personally love MSNBC and find FOX to be evil, but that's just my political orientation at work.

What's wrong with the media is, for the most part, it is owned by one person. This one person controls what you know and think. He controls the textbooks, news, and everything else.

He rules us all. I fear even the Democrats are slowly becoming tainted by his influence.

 

[RyQ_TMC]

Finally, if you learn anything at all through high school English, it's to ALWAYS use multiple sources and never to draw from just one.

That's pretty much the solution to the "powerful media" problem. Media outlets have always been and will always be biased. Since they are also the only source of news for most people, the bias is inherited.

I always read news from a variety of media, encapsulating the whole political spectrum. Each of them emphasises some other aspect of an event and ignores the ones against their view. But every single time I go to any forum, there seems to be plenty of people who believe that their medium is the only one speaking the truth and completely objective, and others are hopelessly skewed political instruments worthy of the worst insults.

 

[dontworryaboutit]

He rules us all. I fear even the Democrats are slowly becoming tainted by his influence.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a Democrat and I voted for Obama. But this sentence is kind of silly to me.

 

[Scolar Visari]

Like APPCRASH said, people are expected to be able to form their own opinions and decide on how a reliable a source may be. I also feel the need to reiterate the idea that patriotism is not only good but necessary to a country's survival. It's the nationalists you need to watch out for.

 

[Merteg]

He rules us all. I fear even the Democrats are slowly becoming tainted by his influence.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a Democrat and I voted for Obama. But this sentence is kind of silly to me.

So the media tells you, eh?=p

 

[dontworryaboutit]

He rules us all. I fear even the Democrats are slowly becoming tainted by his influence.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a Democrat and I voted for Obama. But this sentence is kind of silly to me.

So the media tells you, eh?=p

No, I just think that holding Democrats to be some paragon of virtue is foolish. I can't stand how many people in this country feel that since Obama was elected nothing will ever go wrong again.

 

[Tales of Golden Sun]

The media find something small, like the Swine Flu, and they blow it up. Next thing you know, the whole world is busy with the Swine Flu. Then, all of a sudden, no one cares about Swine Flu anymore. Why? Has it been cured? No. The media don't think they can milk the subject out anymore, so they move on to another subject they can milk out.

They decide what the politicians talk about.
And that's WRONG.

 

[Merteg]

He rules us all. I fear even the Democrats are slowly becoming tainted by his influence.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a Democrat and I voted for Obama. But this sentence is kind of silly to me.

So the media tells you, eh?=p

No, I just think that holding Democrats to be some paragon of virtue is foolish. I can't stand how many people in this country feel that since Obama was elected nothing will ever go wrong again.

Obama HAS suffered from His influence....

If only the American life wasn't all about money, social standing, and insane amounts of power. Our forefathers had so much in mind....

Though, I'm sure if I were a politician I'd be corrupted just as quick as anyone else, it's human nature I suppose.

 

[sneakypenguin]

Like APPCRASH said, people are expected to be able to form their own opinions and decide on how a reliable a source may be. I also feel the need to reiterate the idea that patriotism is not only good but necessary to a country's survival. It's the nationalists you need to watch out for.

Amen Orwell has a good quote on that very issue.

"By ?patriotism? I mean devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be the best in the world but has no wish to force on other people. Patriotism is of its nature defensive, both militarily and culturally. Nationalism, on the other hand, is inseparable from the desire for power. The abiding purpose of every nationalist is to secure more power and more prestige, not for himself but for the nation or other unit in which he has chosen to sink his own individuality." - Orwell

 

[dontworryaboutit]

No, I just think that holding Democrats to be some paragon of virtue is foolish. I can't stand how many people in this country feel that since Obama was elected nothing will ever go wrong again.

Obama HAS suffered from His influence....

If only the American life wasn't all about money, social standing, and insane amounts of power. Our forefathers had so much in mind....

Though, I'm sure if I were a politician I'd be corrupted just as quick as anyone else, it's human nature I suppose.

The "His" keeps giving me the hilarious image that either God or the Devil are fucking with Obama. And that problem is inherent to the species. Mankind is filth.

 

[APPCRASH]

Like APPCRASH said, people are expected to be able to form their own opinions and decide on how a reliable a source may be. I also feel the need to reiterate the idea that patriotism is not only good but necessary to a country's survival. It's the nationalists you need to watch out for.

YEAH! Cool someone who agreed with me. Anyways like he said, It's someone like me that you have to worry about.

 

[A random person]

Not that much power over me, but I only watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. One thing that probably bothers everyone here: fluff/scare pieces that aren't actually news. Like anything they do on video games, comic books, cartoons, and anything with an age ghetto. Or that Fox 11 thing about anonymous.